africa copyright kenya

The Case Against Land Rover

Earlier this year, a fellow photographer from Onetouch alerted me that he’d seen my image on Land Rover Africa’s Facebook Page. The following is a breakdown of what happened between that day in April and my out of court settlement with Land Rover in September.It all started in February last year, when together with other #OnetouchLive photographers, we went on an expedition to Amboseli National Park. Along the Emali – Oloitoktok highway, we stopped to take photos of majestic Kilimanjaro as it’s peak majestically rose above the horizon. It is then that I took this photo: a case of being at the right place at the right time.

African-Screens-Wallpapers-Kilimanjaro-Landrover-Blog700px

I also uploaded it to 500px where I usually share my favourite images.

As I later found out, an individual from Land Rover Africa picked my photo from 500px where I had uploaded it without a watermark, and posted it to their page without my consent.

Screen Shot 2015-06-18 at 9.43.06 PM

Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 9.48.53 AMThey then added a marketing message about Land Rover with inaccurate information on Kilimanjaro’s height.

Screen Shot 2015-06-18 at 9.43.26 PM

I quickly sent them a message on their Facebook page to which they didn’t respond.

A couple of days later, I got in touch with Land Rover’s representatives in Kenya on email, seeking their help in establishing why my image had been plagiarised. RMA Kenya got in touch with the Land Rover team in South Africa who told them the photo was part of a series that had been shot by them in 2014!

That’s when I folded my sleeves and got in touch with Liz Lenjo Kags from Kiako Law. I’d met her at a bloggers event a couple of weeks before and felt I should let her pursue the matter on my behalf. After briefing her on the situation, Liz was very positive we would have a favourable conclusion to the case.

Kikao Law got in touch with Land Rover’s legal team in South Africa and furnished them with all our evidence on the copyright infringement. After several exchanges with them and a short two months later, the case was favourably settled out of court, and we were advised that the individual responsible for the infringement had been dismissed from their duties.

Fellow photographers, don’t simply complain to friends and vent on social media whenever your work is used without your consent. Get a good lawyer and pursue the matter legally.

 

  1. chris Wanga

    October 23, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    Thanx for the advice Mwarv.

  2. Wambui

    October 23, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    Awesome win for Copyright and awesome job by Kikao Law! Kudos Liz.

  3. Gina

    October 23, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    Mwarv, great job on seeking justice, n not cowardly folding to corporate-giant-bullying. It is good to know that Landrover took action against the individual responsible for the plagiarism. May this case set precedent for others that may dare to do the same. Thumbs up to the courageous man you are. And thumbs up to Liz for a job well done. Above all, glory to God who prospers you.

  4. David

    October 23, 2015 at 5:41 pm

    Great work. Hope the out of court settlement included the Discovery Sport.

  5. Patricia

    October 23, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    Thanks for this. Glad it went well. Calling Liz in a sec over something slightly similar.

  6. WannaGetBetter

    October 23, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    Proud of you Mwarv. And Kudos to your legal reps.!

  7. John

    October 23, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    Thanks Mwav for sharing this story with us photogs. I have learned a lot and now know my rights. Cheers mate

  8. Pastor Wa

    October 23, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    Good points Mwarv. Thanks for sharing. A quick question, must you have previously copyrighted your images/blog/content to be able to pursue legal action in case of plagiarism?

    1. mwarv

      October 23, 2015 at 8:29 pm

      A first step was having my works registered as my intellectual property with Kenya Copyright Board. It’s a quick process. I got to register 36 of my best images for 1,000/- only for the whole bunch. Nevertheless, all my images bear my copyright info in the metadata. Plus I always keep the RAW files as proof of ownership.

  9. aika

    October 23, 2015 at 8:28 pm

    Heeeh! Congratulations! Praise be to God for this ! Thank you for paving the way.

  10. S. Juma

    October 23, 2015 at 8:51 pm

    That’s an amazing shot of nature,anyone could’ve been tempted to have it at any price. Land rover just paid theirs.
    Congratulations!

  11. Anne

    October 23, 2015 at 8:55 pm

    (Long comment alert)
    I always say its one thing for a no-name blogger like me to pull an image from the internet – and I have done that and credited the page where I found it only to have the original image owner contact me upon which I had to put up a post on copyright infringement. But really shameful for big organizations with marketing budgets not to verify and re-verify images. Having worked on magazines before – and used your images Mwarv with permission, my greatest nightmare was being caught up in a scandal on copyright. So its great to see so many people coming back to find usefulness in this post you put up. Creative work is hard. We salute you all who take the time to take these amazing pics.

  12. Roots

    October 24, 2015 at 2:12 am

    Hey Mwarv i just want to say thank you for being so bold to fight for what is yours. Yes companies take advantage because they think no action will be taken against them but you stood your ground and i applaud that in standing ovation.

  13. Jeffrey Ogola

    October 24, 2015 at 5:15 am

    This is quite an encouraging level of progress especially in a discipline that is usually never given much thought and the gravity it deserves… Intellectual property and creative license. Ideas and creative output of any kind must be protected.

  14. Moses Kemibaro

    October 24, 2015 at 6:42 am

    Shocking stuff. Glad to hear you got it sorted out.

  15. john

    October 24, 2015 at 8:26 am

    Hello. Can i have the case citation please. You can email me if you dont mind

    1. mwarv

      October 26, 2015 at 10:15 am

      Hi. Please talk to Liz at http://www.kikaolaw.com for the legal stuff. Cheers!

  16. Oliver Cheruiyot

    October 24, 2015 at 11:34 am

    I am happy to read Encouraging stories like this one. Glad that you were sorted and you also went ahead and let a friend be on the know.

  17. Gibson

    October 24, 2015 at 11:52 am

    Thanx for sharing & enlightening us : your fellow photographer. Good job on your awesome photography too.

  18. Victor Otieno

    October 24, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    A lovely image well shot and an encouraging encounter with a good ending. Well done Mwarv.

  19. Wiam

    April 2, 2016 at 2:41 am

    First time seeing your blog, you have my bake vote young man- keep clicking with a purpose

Comments are closed.